


Wedding Guests

by Salty_but_Sweet



Category: Halo (Video Games) & Related Fandoms
Genre: As does Sergeant Johnson, Awkward Spartan-IIs, Cortana enjoys every minute of it, Cross-Posted on FanFiction.Net, F/M, Humor, too many ships
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-28
Updated: 2018-07-28
Packaged: 2019-06-17 15:09:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,556
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15464124
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Salty_but_Sweet/pseuds/Salty_but_Sweet
Summary: Captain Thomas Lasky was getting married and everyone was invited - everyone.





	Wedding Guests

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: Halo belongs to Bungie and 343i.

_Knock knock._

Master Chief's eyes snapped immediately to the door from his image in the mirror.

"Come in." He muttered.

The door opened when very expectant looking Cortana walked in.

"You look nice!" She greeted with a big grin on her face, clearly teasing him.

"Thanks." The Spartan replied tersely while putting on the polished shoes, starting to tie up the laces with precision.

"Come on, can't a girl give a compliment?" Cortana chuckled while not shifting her gaze away from him.

They were to enter Thomas Lasky's wedding, and as for any captain, the party was to be organized within the UNSC, while entertaining all the last Spartans along with the ship crew. Needless to say there was a dress code, which was not so favored idea among the Spartans, especially Sierra-117 in particular.

"You know, if we're ever to get married I'll have no problem what so ever if you are dressed in your armor. As long as, you take your helmet off for the kiss." Cortana assured him jokingly. Still having way too much fun with the situation.

As the Spartan had finished straightening his pant legs, Cortana offered him the cufflinks from the desk and moved to check her own image from the mirror, finally tearing her attention away from him.

"You look nice." John grunted quietly after a small moment. He raised his gaze from his hands just for the bit, but that alone was enough to make Cortana feel herself suddenly much more self-conscious.

"Thanks." The AI replied, a tiniest bit of blush covering her cheeks.

"I really do wish I could seriously say the same." She responded, trying to make her voice as normal as possible to ease the mood.

She managed to earn a somewhat confused raise of an eyebrow, at least on a Spartan meter.

Now she really had to laugh. "You do look _very_ salient all dressed up like that, but look is more than just clothes, namely attitude and how one carries the clothes. And frankly, I could have smelled your uncomfortableness three decks up."

Chief could relate to her point, but he wasn't willing to admit that to her. Settling for a simple response of "Funny", although, his voice was far from amused.

"You know me. I have both looks and personality." Cortana responded airily.

Noticing that he had gotten the outfit together, "So, ready to go?"

John gave her a minimal nod, which many would not have been able to identify as a slightly nervous one.

"Most of them won't recognize you." Cortana commented softly over her shoulder. "You haven't spent that much time out of your suit in public, plus the data banks might magically be lacking your picture. And if you want, your pictures can also disappear from the press's photos." She continued making the Spartan look at her sincerely.

He blinked once and took her hand for the smallest of times as they entered the hallway.

* * *

John and Cortana had promised to meet Kelly, Fred, and Linda outside the hall where the ceremony would be held. After entering the lobby John could easily find the other three Spartans. They were quite a sight with their size and all white official uniforms. Cortana, on the other hand, had stuck her mind on the fact that she wasn't officially declared as part of the UNSC so she could dress in any way she wanted. Her pale blue evening gown and small white jacket did make her stand out when compared with Linda and Kelly's tailored suits. Even if Cortana was more of a practical-minded when it came to dressing, she had seen extra effort for the occasion.

"I knew I should have chosen a hat with me." Cortana remarked thoughtfully while checking out the other quests.

"They have an impressive guest list." Kelly commented after changing the usual nice to meet you Spartan half-nods.

"Half of the UNSC seems to be here."

"And Sanghelios" Fred continued Cortana's observation.

"Publicity, publicity." Cortana shook her head while they walked to their seats.

It was true, as the captain of Infinity Lasky's wedding had become a major event. Lasky himself had heard to comment that he would have wanted a smaller ceremony, but the High Command had promised to arrange everything.

A handful of Elites, including Arbiter, had taken seats near the wall at the right. While Miranda Keys had been forced to be one of the bridesmaids since she knew the bride from her training days, Johnson had turned down his seat in the second row to move in front of the Spartans and Cortana. Even Lord Hood had entered the wedding.

The wedding itself went without much of a fuss. The Spartans got little bored by the formalities, while Cortana had left her mind wander on more than one occasion. Johnson, on the other hand, was later rumored to have been wiping tears "because of the beauty of it all".

* * *

Music was filling the room as one sub-unit of UNSC:s orchestra took the stage. Cortana twirled her wine glass in her hands, taking a look at the party. People were starting to dance, some were carrying drinks, as others were good-heartedly gossiping with each other. Then Cortana turned her gaze to the party mood at her table, as all other guests had escaped to other parts of the ballroom. All the Spartans were sitting stoically and pretty out-of-place looking in their seats. Linda and Fred were surveying the crowd with indifferent faces, Kelly was looking through the tablet for the rest of the evening's program, even though, Cortana could notice her finger tapping the table in the beat of the song. And then there was the Chief who had turned his gaze from the crowd to the table utensils meant for the deserts – all three different sizes of little forks and a spoon. Cortana could see that under his normal mask, he was once again falling into some deep corner of his mind, wondering his place in this new world. The Spartan party mood indeed…

"Would the lady be kind enough to come and dance with a poor soldier?"

Cortana woke up startled from her reverie as all the Spartans turned their gaze to someone behind her. She was almost to answer the questioner she didn't really have an experience when it came to dancing, until she noticed who was asking her.

_Johnson._

Cortana took a quick glance at the Spartans but decided they weren't really profiting from her presence, so she might just as well say yes. "I think she might." She answered Johnson with a genuine smile on her face taking his offered hand.

As they walked to the dance floor and she put her hand on the man's soldier, she could smell cigarettes, cologne and a trace of old whiskey.

Cortana raised her eyebrow knowingly, "Enjoying the party?"

The Sergeant just laughed at her question. "It's a wedding, and what I have heard, they are supposed to be joyous occasions, no war, no fighting, unless sometimes between the bride and the groom. People are happy and that's a thing to be happy about. "

Cortana grinned at his response, having to admit he really did have a point.

At least someone did.

They moved with the crowd smoothly, Johnson was naturally excellent at taking the lead and Cortana... well she wasn't used to being bad at anything either. And she had always wanted to try dancing, even feeling the music through her body was amazing.

"Didn't know you were this good at dancing, Sergeant. Someone could almost accuse you of hiding your talent."

"Dancing skills are a requirement for every good soldier. You know, sometimes the recruits that come to us are just terrible, no sense of rhythm, steps or manners. It's our mission to teach them the fine skills."

"So you are doing all the training and battlefield experience just to prepare them for events held maybe less than once a year?" Cortana asked trying to appear serious, but failing to keep the smile out her voice.

"Certainly, Ma'am." Johnson emphasized his point by a strong nod, making Cortana laugh.

Cortana tightened her grip on the man's shoulder as he took a quick, but smooth, move, away from the overcrowding section of the dance floor.

"So, you only asked me to dance to showcase the expertise of the UNSC?"

Her dance partner seemed to ponder his answer for a second. "No, I'm trying to set a good example for that hardheaded date of yours." Putting emphasis on the hardheaded.

Cortana had to turn her gaze from Johnson's face.

"He's not hardheaded, he is a Spartan. Plus he is not my date." She answered him explanatorily.

Johnson ignored her comment. "Every fine lady deserves a chance to dance, and Cortana you would deserve to dance till next year if you wanted to. Even though that brick might not realize that."

"You just called one of humanity's biggest war heroes a brick?" Cortana had to raise both of her eyebrows in a mock devastation.

Johnson laughed whole-heartedly making some of the other dancing couples look at them. "If a man doesn't ask a woman to dance, there is no relevance with rank or past actions – if someone acts like a caveman then he can damn well be considered as one."

Cortana wasn't sure whether she wanted to argue with the man, deciding to just drop the subject.

After a moment of silence, her companion offered another explanation. "And I wanted to ask whether you whether you knew where Miranda is."

Cortana looked at Johnson with a strong mask of unamusement.

"Just escort me back to table with extra affection, and we are even." Cortana then commented after a dramatic sigh, clearly offering him a challenge, making the Sergeant laugh and look at her proudly.

"Deal."

As the song ended and Johnson was walking with her back to the table, she gave the slightest nod towards one corner of the room. When they were freed from the crowd Cortana could see John's face lit up a fraction when he noticed them returning. She had a small suspicion that her Spartan had tried to keep an eye on them the whole time, not because of Johnson, but because of their history together in war zones — just in case a Brute would appear somewhere and try to rip her to pieces.

Jonhson took his hat under his arm and offered a chair for her. "Thank you, Cortana." His thanks were accompanied with a look that unmistakably stated 'if that brick hasn't asked you to dance before this night is over, I'll damn well make him'.

Cortana had to suppress her laugh and thanked him likewise.

A little bit later the cake was cut ceremoniously while (most) of the quests were clapping enthusiastically for the main couple. The table 73, which Cortana had booked them in, stayed more composed. (The Spartans had originally been ordered at table 5 in the center of all the attention.) The reserved clapping was due to the fact that Linda had informed others 10 minutes earlier to having seen Sarah Palmer making out with Arbiter near the toilets. Not even Cortana or Kelly had dared to voice out loud everyone's thoughts of Palmer and Lasky's relationship. Talk about self-delusion... Needless to be said the Spartans and Cortana exchanged discreet bemused eye rolls.

* * *

When the party continued on, Cortana noticed that John had not returned from his trip to the toilets. She watched the dancers and something that appeared to be a very drunken game of twister at the left corner of the hall for a while. Johnson had been making everything out of the occasion by organizing limbo competition and winning it. However, this could partly be blamed on the lack of participants. Nevertheless, it worked as an important kickoff for the less restricted evening program. Eventually, Cortana decided that looking after her caveman might be the best option. Just in case he had been ambushed by Arbiter, or worse yet by Palmer, Cortana thought grimacing.

After some searching she was able to find him in one of the alcoves little farther away from the venue, looking outside towards Earth. Kelly was talking with him but stopped when she noticed Cortana's approach, a small smile rising to the female Spartan's lips.

"I'll go check the others." Kelly finished and gave John a friendly pat on the shoulder. As she left, she glanced once behind her, surveying them.

Pleasantries aside Cortana opted to just walk next to him; sensing her presence he moved slightly.

They stood in silence for some time, not really feeling the need to say anything and neither of them really knowing what to say.

For some unknown mutual decision, Cortana leaned herself against his chest as John put his arms around her. His hold of her was strong, but unsteady, as the muscles in his upper body were straining slightly from some unconscious battle.

"Ready to go?" Cortana asked him, referring to the end of the party.

John only nodded his response.

"Okay. Plus I think it'll be for the best before Johnson comes after you." Cortana smirked softly earning a questioning gaze from her companion.

"He was pretty determined to hunt you down if we don't dance together."

As the sentence was sinking in for the Spartan he seemed to grow visibly uncomfortable.

"Would you …have wanted to dance?" John asked her evenly, hesitation seeping through his voice.

"Yes and no. I want to do all types of things, getting you on the dance floor might be on that list, but not in a huge wedding reception packed with people. It's fine." Cortana clarified reassuringly.

"Though, I'm not sure if Johnson is willing to see it that way." She continued smirking up at him, making him feel more like himself.

"I doubt that will matter too much." John chuckled with his low laugh after a brief silence, "Last time I saw him was about twenty-five minutes ago when he was going to some after-party with Miranda to the other end of the ship. And not really in a condition to voice his condemn."

"Then you might be officially off the hook, just this once." Cortana grinned at him.

As they were walking back towards the main hall they noticed that Kelly, Fred, and Linda were just leaving the party.

"We thought of changing clothes and go and play some pool in one of the game rooms. You two want to come?" Fred asked.

John answered after a nod from Cortana, "We'll be there in fifteen minutes."

As the two began walking to their quarters to change their clothes even John had to admit that he had had worse days. And who knows, maybe someday he would be forced to enter his own wedding; the wedding between an ex-AI and a brick. And maybe before that, there might be a wedding between one Commander and Sergeant. Or maybe a wedding between Lieutenant and Captain, although, it was certain that High Command would **not** be going to serve on that occasion. So all in all, it was good that John got experience when it came to weddings, since it seems highly unlikely that the Spartans would be able to escape the occasions for the rest of their lives.


End file.
